BMW rides roughshod over public rights of way

17 October 2007

It’s time to boycott BMW! That includes Minis, made in Oxford. Well,
perhaps you were never going to buy one anyway. But don’t ever be taken
in by BMW’s cosy image – such as in Oxford where their Mini plant is
located and where they host a theatre company on their site and have
sponsored the popular Cowley Road carnival. Oh no, this is a real
roll-your-sleeves-up corporation that means business.

In my spare time, when I’m not working at the New Internationalist,
I have gotten involved in rights-of-way politics in Oxford, mainly
because I was given an old horse and looked for places to go riding.

BMW acquired their site in Oxford in 1994, courtesy of a sweetener
from the Thatcher government. They knew it had a bridleway running
across it. But ever since they have tried to get the pesky public path
closed, citing ‘security’ – that old chestnut – as an issue.

Some say it’s really because the management does not like the
untidiness of ordinary people being able to cross the Works. Others
believe it’s because BMW wants to asset-strip – probably by selling off
the land for housing – and make a mint when the times comes for it to
clear off in search of cheaper labour.

BMW says it is because it wants to develop the site and put in a new
railhead: you can see the greenery behind their words – but we’ll
believe that when we see it.

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They persuaded Oxfordshire County Council to apply to court for the
bridleway to be closed. East Oxford Labour MP Andrew Smith backed BMW
(his household has a Mini). The scare talk was all about ‘What if BMW
leaves?’ Well, most BMW workers we talked to know damn well that the
company will probably leave when it suits them: up sticks and shoot off
to India, China or wherever the workers cost less. But in the meantime,
Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) cravenly does what it is bidden.

Worse, though, BMW has paid all OCC’s expenses in the court case
that has just concluded in nearby Witney today. Talk about cosy
relationships! But in addition, OCC is slamming the two charities that
opposed the closure with costs. The British Horse Society (BHS) and the
Ramblers’ Association – who both tried to defend the public’s right to
this route – have been hit with costs of £50,000 between them. It
certainly does not encourage ‘ordinary’ people, (such as volunteers
with few resources), to stand up for their rights, does it?

BMW is making alternative provision for walkers and pedestrians on a
longer route that runs by the Oxford ring-road – a noisy, congested and
polluted motorway. But they are not making any provision for
horseriders who will now no longer be able to ride to the Oxford
City-owned Shotover Country Park with its pleasant bridleways and
rides.

Amidst the despondency in the losers’ camp was a bit of hilarity
when looking at some of BMW’s ‘security’ anxieties – industrial
espionage for example. Well, horses are a great way to go discreetly
around spying, aren’t they! No-one would know they were there, would
they? But the one that had us laughing out loud was that apparently
some ungrateful BMW workers flog their corporate t-shirts on eBay just
minutes after being issued with them! Where's the corporate pride?

If you’d like to donate to the fighting fund to pay for the costs
we’ve been hit with, then please send a cheque payable to BHS to Mark
Weston, Director of Access, British Horse Society, Stoneleigh Deer
Park, Kenilworth CV8 2XZ.